Lebrun: Oilers among eight teams on miller's no-trade list

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanStrandedInEDM

Dare i say this...but,

As a born and raised Calgarian who lived in Edmonton for 4 years, I can honestly say, Edmonton is not that bad of a city. Living in Grande Prairie now, i would give my left nut to live in Edmonton.

Compared to Calgary, It is almost identical in what it has to offer. There is no reason a millionare cant be comfortable in Edmonton. These guys are professional athletes who spend half their life on the road in the winter anyway. It has good schools, expensive stores, and wealthy subdivisions. There are far bigger dumps a player could play in.

Any issues people have with going to Edmonton should not be based on the city itself but the organization.

Sorry but you are wrong, perhaps you got worn down during your time there, or perhaps living in GP has caused you to look at Edmonton wistfully....but make no mistake while it may not be the anus of the world you can certainly see it from there...

[djsFlames]

I'd take the foothills and mountains and the possibility of a christmas in shorts (which we had a few years back) than nothing but flat prairies, an incompetent hockey club and a guaranteed lengthy deep freeze any day.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

From the link:

January Average Low

Toronto: -10.5
Calgary: -15.1
Edmonton: -19.1

How often does Toronto have a cold snap of -20 and lower? Almost never.

Calgary's winter is at least a month longer, with 88 days with at least an inch of snow on the ground versus 65 in Toronto.

Ottawa: -15.3
Montreal: -14.7

And those are actuall Temps. the "feels like" index they always show on the news would put the three eastern citys lower than Calgary.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanStrandedInEDM

Dare i say this...but,

As a born and raised Calgarian who lived in Edmonton for 4 years, I can honestly say, Edmonton is not that bad of a city. Living in Grande Prairie now, i would give my left nut to live in Edmonton.

Compared to Calgary, It is almost identical in what it has to offer. There is no reason a millionare cant be comfortable in Edmonton. These guys are professional athletes who spend half their life on the road in the winter anyway. It has good schools, expensive stores, and wealthy subdivisions. There are far bigger dumps a player could play in.

Any issues people have with going to Edmonton should not be based on the city itself but the organization.

I've spent a good chunk of my life in both cities, and consider myself Calgarian for sure. I don't think I could objectively say that Calgary is a way better city to live in. I actually don't think the actual qualities of a city really factor that much into people's decisions really.

Proximity to friends and family, organizational strength, whether or not it is a hockey mad city (plus for some/negative for others), friends on the team or in the city, and how much money they are offering all would be way ahead of the actual city itself.

[Scoreface]

^^ Misread. You're in GP now. Maybe try changing your username.

Either way, you're stranded and yes, both cities are very different, but do have similarities. Like both NHL teams not making the playoffs for one.

BIG difference now: One team is expected to win with poorly developed players. The natives are getting restless with the on-ice product and inept management. The other team is building with a decent mix of veterans and character young players. I think we can guess which team is which here.

A winning attitude fostered by a team approach and defense first mentality, putting it all on the line is being instilled in the Flames, and nothing less. 3 zone play is preached and practised. Sure, the personnel isn't altogether what it should be for that, but the Flames are rebuilding with a nice mixture and management seems to be doing its best to do it right.

Although they will likely lose more than win the next couple years, I like this team. It feels like a 'team.' More pieces are coming. Mostly via prospects. As a group they are pretty good. Management has a good philosophy these days of drafting character combined with intelligence. I'm sure we agree in this and are confident in the direction the organization is steered. Long edit. Sorry!

Also, it is colder up there. Noticeably and for longer. This winter will probably feel like -50 for 4 months.

Being a Flames fan, though, it should feel a bit warmer for you. Just tell your Oiler buds that their skidoo suit looks great with them wing tipped shoes! (Sweat pants underneath of course.)

[heep223]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanStrandedInEDM

Dare i say this...but,

As a born and raised Calgarian who lived in Edmonton for 4 years, I can honestly say, Edmonton is not that bad of a city. Living in Grande Prairie now, i would give my left nut to live in Edmonton.

Compared to Calgary, It is almost identical in what it has to offer. There is no reason a millionare cant be comfortable in Edmonton. These guys are professional athletes who spend half their life on the road in the winter anyway. It has good schools, expensive stores, and wealthy subdivisions. There are far bigger dumps a player could play in.

Any issues people have with going to Edmonton should not be based on the city itself but the organization.

My friends/family that went to U of A or spent time working in Edmonton (all of them born and raised Calgarians) have said that it's a great place to live FWIW.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Proximity to friends and family, organizational strength, whether or not it is a hockey mad city (plus for some/negative for others), friends on the team or in the city, and how much money they are offering all would be way ahead of the actual city itself.

yep... at the end of the day, its (a) about the team (which is why we are not an attractive destination), and (b) family and friends... (c) would probably be quality of living, and (z) would be shopping.

[MissTeeks]

This just came out this morning:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/18/h...teams-a-boost/

The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which expired on Jan. 1 as part of the cliff deal, return the highest individual U.S. tax rate to 39.5%, up from 35% in 2012. This officially makes Alberta the most tax-friendly place to play in the NHL, according to Sean Packard, director of Tax at OFS, which offers wealth management services to pro athletes. The provincial rate, he notes, is only 10%, which added to the federal rate of 29%, brings Alberta’s marginal rate to 39%, lower than the U.S. federal rate alone. For the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, it could be a much-needed boost in recruiting talent.

Packard was “blown away” by how much his after-tax ranking changed from one year to the next. “It had always been a given that the U.S. was a better place to play tax-wise,” he told Canadian Business.
It’s hard to believe the change has largely gone under the radar until recently. It might be because players won’t be filing their 2013 tax returns until next year, so many haven’t noticed yet, says Packard. Agents, however, are starting to ring him up to discuss the implications of the new tax landscape.

What about the effect of tax breaks like the U.S. mortgage interest rate deduction, though, which Canada doesn’t have? Packard’s rankings don’t account for the many exemptions players spending most of their time in the U.S. might be eligible for, but the mortgage deduction doesn’t seem to be — excuse the pun — a game changer. It would save at most U.S.$50,000-60,000, he says, not nearly enough to make up the difference in after-tax income between the Florida Panthers, the most tax-friendly U.S. team, and the Oilers and Flames.

[Phil Russell]

You need to have spent some time in a place to have a legitimate opinion about it, but even then, experiences will differ. I like Buffalo, which has an awful reputation, but can't stand Phoenix, which everyone seems to think is paradise. To each his own but I prefer to hate Edmonton the hockey team, not Edmonton the city which has a hell of a lot more in common with Calgary than most around here would care to admit.

[Scoreface]

Originally Posted by Phil Russell

You need to have spent some time in a place to have a legitimate opinion about it, but even then, experiences will differ. I like Buffalo, which has an awful reputation, but can't stand Phoenix, which everyone seems to think is paradise. To each his own but I prefer to hate Edmonton the hockey team, not Edmonton the city which has a hell of a lot more in common with Calgary than most around here would care to admit.

Not bad streets and poor design! Edmonton is higher on the arts too. Thank Mandel for that.

Plus, it IS colder there and sticking with the thread, an embarrassment of a hockey team. As alluded to, they should stick with the history channel for hockey enjoyment. Or follow other teams. The rebuild and potential of that team is wearing thin, even with the media.

The Flames are undergoing an overhaul of their own. They have a team approach to the game. Edmonton is usually destined for the first pick. Whether they like it or not. With no team game to speak of. Just some skilled guys in their top 6 plucked off a low hanging branch.

[indes]

I only lived in Edmonton for 6 months after Calgary and castlegar for 18 years and I just don't see the appeal. There's nice suburbs there but the huge lack of greenspace and industrial east side is a huge turn off for me. Lots of downtown looks really run downs and I couldn't imagine living anywhere but the west side or St Albert if I had to.

P.S. I'd still rather live on a few acres in the mountains outside castlegar than either of the two.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by #-3

Ottawa: -15.3
Montreal: -14.7

And those are actuall Temps. the "feels like" index they always show on the news would put the three eastern citys lower than Calgary.

Montreal and Ottawa like Toronto get real springs. They actually have green grass in March unlike Calgary where things get green in May. In the peak of winter things are pretty close between all the cities but winter generally starts earlier and ends later in Calgary. Trust me you get a lot more use out of your lawnmower out east.

[Lego Man]

I moved to Edmonton in 2005, and am moving out of here in May. I hate Edmonton, and I feel sorry for people who were raised here and are too close minded to consider leaving.

If we are just comparing cities in North America, then you can't even BEGIN to compare Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary is miles above Edmonton in every single aspect, and only are similar in the eyes of people who live warm climates in southern US.

If we are comparing cities across the world... yeah... I'd say they are similar - except Calgary has the Mountains closer and Edmonton looks like a much poorer city. It's like Walmart everywhere.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

This just came out this morning:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/18/h...teams-a-boost/

Lower taxes! Cut spending!

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

yep... at the end of the day, its (a) about the team (which is why we are not an attractive destination), and (b) family and friends... (c) would probably be quality of living, and (z) would be shopping.

That's simply not true. I've seen several player polls of most desirable cities to play in, and there's not much movement in the rankings. And again, back when the Flames had made the playoffs 5 years in a row and Iginla was still a marquee player Calgary was ranked 19th in desirability.

[Magnum PEI]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Montreal and Ottawa like Toronto get real springs. They actually have green grass in March unlike Calgary where things get green in May. In the peak of winter things are pretty close between all the cities but winter generally starts earlier and ends later in Calgary. Trust me you get a lot more use out of your lawnmower out east.

That's because Calgary is a lot drier. Even this year a lot of the roadsides were brown by August. Irrigated lawns will stay green all year round.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

In a Hockey News poll of NHL players from about five years ago, Calgary ranked 19th in cities players would want to live in. And this was when the Flames were a perennial playoff team.

And again, the experience and preferences of middle-class people are irrelevant to the topic. I remember back when a bunch of NHL players lived in Oakridge. The notion of an NHLer today living in a neighbourhood like Oakridge is comical.

This type of thing is so personal and age dependent that I think large, non-stratified surveys provide little info.

If you want the city to have some cultural and historical flavour, then the rankings could put Phoenix and Anaheim at the bottom, but if you value weather and golf it can flip back.

If you're a middle-of-the-pack NHL veteran with a modest NHL salary and a couple of children of elementary school age, NYC isn't the most inviting location for your uprooted family... you might be eyeing Raleigh, NC. But if you're 24, single, and bringing in 4-6 million, then you're wondering how fast you can get on a plane from Raleigh to NYC.

Edmonton still sucks. But for the rest of the cities, I think it's a very fluid situation.

[Ozy_Flame]

I personally don't hate Edmonton as a city. Recently I've had the chance to spend more time there, particularly in Garneau and around the U of A campus. I think it's an awesome neighbourhood and Whyte (during the day) can be pretty interesting. That said, I've also had my fair share of the other side of Edmonton too, so it's the yin with the yang.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Magnum PEI

That's because Calgary is a lot drier. Even this year a lot of the roadsides were brown by August. Irrigated lawns will stay green all year round.

Umm no. It's because we still have snow on the ground in April while out east they stop getting snow in March.

And lets be realistic here in that Ottawa and Montreal are also likely on Miller's list as well the list of a lot of other players list of places they don't want to play.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I personally don't hate Edmonton as a city. Recently I've had the chance to spend more time there, particularly in Garneau and around the U of A campus. I think it's an awesome neighbourhood and Whyte (during the day) can be pretty interesting. That said, I've also had my fair share of the other side of Edmonton too, so it's the yin with the yang.

I agree that there are some spots in Edmonton that are pretty nice but when you start talking about good areas in a city and really bad areas in a city you are in US city territory were a lot of the cities there have great areas and equally bad areas. Calgary is pretty good in that regard and simply doesn't have any areas as bad as the east side of Edmonton.